Look around, you’ve been played

If you’re paying the exorbitant interest rates of 20 percent to 32 percent allowed to be charged on credit card debt … you’ve been played.

If you have a subprime loan and/or an adjustable rate loan that enticed you with a low teaser rate that also allowed you to pay no money as a down payment; especially if you are about to lose your house, or if 40 percent-plus of your take-home income goes into your house or condo… you’ve been played.

If you’re a single mom who is college-educated, running around between day care and work, and your earnings do not allow you to afford rent, mortgage, car payment food and clothing; if you worked your whole life to live off of your savings and/or Social Security, but it is not enough to make the real-estate tax payment on your home or to afford prescription medicine … you’ve been played.

If your job has been sent overseas and you don’t have the resources to retrain yourself; if you donate money or your tax dollars go to “nonprofit organizations” where the upper echelon of management earn $300,000 to $1 million per year; if you pay taxes that pay the salary and benefits for government workers who don’t work as hard as you do, but you can’t get that job because you don’t “know someone”… you’ve been played.

If you go to college and study business and have not considered studying liberal arts, humanities, religion, social services, education, music, drama, writing, journalism or the life of the mind, spirit or soul because you need a job in the corporate world to pay back the student loans you’ve used to go to college … you’ve been played.

Take consolation. At least you have each other. There are lots of you, maybe 15 percent of the country, or 45 million people.

You also have company in the urban poor, people whose children attend schools and who themselves live in a part of the world where many people are not building their lives but beating and tearing down each other and themselves. The resources these people need to stop doing this to one another have also not been provided. That’s another 5 percent of Americans, or 50 million of the 300 million people, living in the United States who have all been played.

Why are so many people being played? Is it because our financial service industry can prey on and take advantage of those easily victimized?

Yes, but it’s about much more than that. Pointing the finger solely at the financial services industry is too narrow and limited an explanation.

It is about capitalism and democracy’s limitations?

No, capitalism is the best economic system designed so far — by far. The problem is with our U.S. version of capitalism and democracy.

What allows our version to produce laws that do not benefit enough people? Why does our version of capitalism and democracy allow some of us to take such advantage of others? The answer is because politicians can be bought. In fact, under our system they must be bought — sorry I meant “financially supported” — to be elected. People are taken advantage of by our version of the free-market system because our political system allows it, perhaps even requires it, for one to be elected.

Look at the recent news item: “Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Presidential Campaign said it will return $850,000 in donations raised by Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who is under federal investigation for allegedly violating election laws.” Hsu raised money from only 260 donors; that’s $3,269 per donor. So far Hillary Clinton has raised $52 million and Sen. Barak Obama, D-Ill has raised $58.5 million from similar donors. Mitt Romney, who doesn’t need anyone else’s money since he earned it himself in the financial services industry, lent his campaign more than $8.9 million of his own money to run for president.

If we don’t mandate free television, radio and newspaper time and space for people who are not rich or backed by the rich and powerful to get their vision out, if we don’t publicly fund political campaigns through your taxes and mine, you will continue to get the rich and powerful taking their advantage of the less resourceful. Only now the less resourceful is not the poor. Now it is you … you’ve been played.

The United States, moved by early American newcomers, led the way (along with the French Revolution) for government of the people, by the people and for the people. We should return to our roots.